Compensation culture bites back
Discussion
This'll cheer some people up 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4503070.stm
'Own goal' over pothole trip case
A man has been sentenced to two weeks in jail for trying to sue a council for £10,000 after falsely claiming he injured his leg tripping on a pavement.
In fact, Matthew Hughes, 26, from Pontlottyn, near Caerphilly, was injured playing football later that day, the court heard.
Hughes and two friends were found guilty of contempt of court at Swansea Civil Justice Centre.
His friends, Christian Rowlands and Jamie Verity, were each fined £1,500.
The unique civil case, brought against the men by Caerphilly County Borough Council, began on Monday.
The case heard how Hughes was accused of telling a "pack of lies" when he claimed he had tripped on a pothole in September 2001, seriously injuring his knee.
He decided to take the council to court claiming the injury had stopped him playing football, a game he had enjoyed playing regularly.
Two of his friends, Jamie Verity, 26, and Christian Rowlands, 34, supported his claim in statements when Hughes applied for compensation 18 months later.
But at the end of a hearing in 2004, the council revealed it had evidence that Hughes had indeed continued playing football. The compensation case was dropped.
It emerged that Hughes had played football on the day he claimed he tripped.
The court heard that investigations by the council found a report of the match in a copy of a local paper, which mentioned his goal scoring exploits.
A photograph was also produced in court, taken one hour after Hughes claimed he had been injured, in which he is pictured kneeling on his injured knee in a pre-match line-up with other players at the club.
Team sheets covering two seasons also showed he had played 29 separate matches at a time when he claimed he was too injured to play at all.
William Audland, representing the council, told Hughes: "You decided to invent an accident to claim money from the council.
"Your statement that you injured yourself in a pothole is a complete fabrication."
Mr Hughes told the court that he had been advised by friends and family at the time of making the claim to make no mention of having played football on the day of the fall.
"When I tripped and hurt myself I did not think it was that bad," Hughes said.
"I went home and the boys called me then to go to football. I have had knocks everywhere on my body and I thought I could run this off.
"I love my football and I did not know how serious it was."
Hughes also dismissed the allegation that he had lied about never having played football again after the injury.
"I would not call it a lie. It was wrong. It was just misleading," he said.
"When I was writing down my statement I did not put it down correctly. I meant to say I was not playing regularly."
All three men denied the allegation of contempt of court.
However, Hughes admitted that a substantial part of his original statement had been untrue.
Judge Justice Silber, sitting at Swansea Civil Justice Centre, told Hughes that the sentence should be seen as a deterrent to other people making false compensation claims.
"There is evidence that a very large number of false claims of this kind are made against councils and it is council taxpayers who bear the costs," he said.
"Those who in future make fraudulent witness statements in order to pursue fraudulent claims can expect immediate prison sentences substantially longer than the one imposed on you."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4503070.stm
'Own goal' over pothole trip case
A man has been sentenced to two weeks in jail for trying to sue a council for £10,000 after falsely claiming he injured his leg tripping on a pavement.
In fact, Matthew Hughes, 26, from Pontlottyn, near Caerphilly, was injured playing football later that day, the court heard.
Hughes and two friends were found guilty of contempt of court at Swansea Civil Justice Centre.
His friends, Christian Rowlands and Jamie Verity, were each fined £1,500.
The unique civil case, brought against the men by Caerphilly County Borough Council, began on Monday.
The case heard how Hughes was accused of telling a "pack of lies" when he claimed he had tripped on a pothole in September 2001, seriously injuring his knee.
He decided to take the council to court claiming the injury had stopped him playing football, a game he had enjoyed playing regularly.
Two of his friends, Jamie Verity, 26, and Christian Rowlands, 34, supported his claim in statements when Hughes applied for compensation 18 months later.
But at the end of a hearing in 2004, the council revealed it had evidence that Hughes had indeed continued playing football. The compensation case was dropped.
It emerged that Hughes had played football on the day he claimed he tripped.
The court heard that investigations by the council found a report of the match in a copy of a local paper, which mentioned his goal scoring exploits.
A photograph was also produced in court, taken one hour after Hughes claimed he had been injured, in which he is pictured kneeling on his injured knee in a pre-match line-up with other players at the club.
Team sheets covering two seasons also showed he had played 29 separate matches at a time when he claimed he was too injured to play at all.
William Audland, representing the council, told Hughes: "You decided to invent an accident to claim money from the council.
"Your statement that you injured yourself in a pothole is a complete fabrication."
Mr Hughes told the court that he had been advised by friends and family at the time of making the claim to make no mention of having played football on the day of the fall.
"When I tripped and hurt myself I did not think it was that bad," Hughes said.
"I went home and the boys called me then to go to football. I have had knocks everywhere on my body and I thought I could run this off.
"I love my football and I did not know how serious it was."
Hughes also dismissed the allegation that he had lied about never having played football again after the injury.
"I would not call it a lie. It was wrong. It was just misleading," he said.
"When I was writing down my statement I did not put it down correctly. I meant to say I was not playing regularly."
All three men denied the allegation of contempt of court.
However, Hughes admitted that a substantial part of his original statement had been untrue.
Judge Justice Silber, sitting at Swansea Civil Justice Centre, told Hughes that the sentence should be seen as a deterrent to other people making false compensation claims.
"There is evidence that a very large number of false claims of this kind are made against councils and it is council taxpayers who bear the costs," he said.
"Those who in future make fraudulent witness statements in order to pursue fraudulent claims can expect immediate prison sentences substantially longer than the one imposed on you."
I wonder how many times people have successfully claimed compensation by deception.
Claiming compensation for tripping over is totally ridiculous in the first place, what happened to accepting responsibility for your own stupidity?
I know electricity is dangerous, i might just go an electrocute myself later and then sue my power company for not preventing me from doing it
Claiming compensation for tripping over is totally ridiculous in the first place, what happened to accepting responsibility for your own stupidity?
I know electricity is dangerous, i might just go an electrocute myself later and then sue my power company for not preventing me from doing it
nel said:
Good. Not sure if 2 weeks is enough though.
Yeah, but its a permanent record now. Every job he goes for, every time he is arrested etc....
Interviewer : "Do you have a criminal record?"
Bloke : "Yes"
Interviewer : "What is it for?"
Bloke : "For deceipt and fraud relating to a personal injury claim"
Interviewer : "Oh"
Bloke : "So, do I get the job?"
Interviewer : "I think not, dont you?"
Bloke : "Wish I wasnt such a cock now..."
www.brtf.gov.uk/docs/pdf/betterroutes.pdf
Well done Caerphilly council!
>> Edited by anniesdad on Tuesday 6th December 17:19
Well done Caerphilly council!
>> Edited by anniesdad on Tuesday 6th December 17:19
off_again said:
Good. Not sure if 2 weeks is enough though.
Yeah, but its a permanent record now. Every job he goes for, every time he is arrested etc....
Interviewer : "Do you have a criminal record?"
Bloke : "Yes"
Interviewer : "What is it for?"
Bloke : "For deceipt and fraud relating to a personal injury claim"
Interviewer : "Oh"
Bloke : "So, do I get the job?"
Interviewer : "I think not, dont you?"
Bloke : "Wish I wasnt such a cock now..."
Rehabilitation of offenders act: won't need to disclose it once it is 'spent'.
Not a bad pay day: £10,000 for 2 weeks inside. I take it they get their £10,000 back if he hasn't spent it.
2 weeks is ardly a deterent: Lord Archer got a considerably longer stretch for telling porkies in, I would argue, circumstances of less public interest that people leaving schools and social services £10,000 short and generally making life less enjotyable and more expensice for the rest of us through compensation culture.
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